1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tape end trimmer for cutting the corners of the ends of a printed label-like tape in a radius or other shape.
2. Description of the Related Art
Tape printing apparatus are commonly used to print letters and/or graphic on a blank tape. The blank tape is fed to the tape printing apparatus, and the printed tape is cut and then trimmed by a tape end trimmer. One type of conventional tape end trimmer known is utilized in the tape printing apparatus and described in Japanese TOKKAI H3-287397 (1991-287397). This type of tape printing apparatus comprises a trimmer for the specific width of the tape to be cut, and requires the trimmer to be changed each time a tape having different width is used. The trimmer comprises a cutter unit for trimming the tape end, and a guide member for guiding the inserted tape to the cutter unit. When printing is completed, the tape fed out from the tape printing apparatus is inserted to the trimmer, and the end of the tape is cut automatically by the trimmer.
Trimming the tape end by the cutter unit is accomplished in this case by the cutter unit simultaneously cutting both corners of the tape end and the edge connecting those corners. More specifically, the end of the tape is cut to a known dimension so that the corners of the resulting tape end are curved.
This type of conventional tape end trimmer, however, simultaneously cuts not only the corners of the tape end, but the edge member connecting those corners, i.e., cuts the tape end to a constant dimension. The overall length of the tape is therefore shortened by the amount cut off, and a long blank (unprinted) space at the tape end must be reserved to prevent the printed area from being cut off. This results in excessive tape waste.
Furthermore, the trimmer itself must be manufactured according to the tape width, and cannot be used to cut tapes of any other width. With a tape printing apparatus of this type, therefore, it is necessary to have plural trimmers to print and cut tapes of different widths, thus making the tape trimming operation more complex and cumbersome.